Yesterday I had bat wings, today it’s angel wings.
But first, a story. One Halloween (maybe 2nd grade?), I wanted to be a ghost. That year, my Sunday school class was also having a costume party. After some brainstorming, we decided that I would be an angel for the church party and a ghost for Halloween, using the same costume but with different accessories. (I think for the angel costume, we made a gold sequined belt. Awesome.)
Two-in-one costume, clever, sure. But the best part? My dad made the costume. My mom doesn’t sew. Sure, she can cross-stitch, and she learned to knit a few years ago, but I’m not sure I remember her ever using the sewing machine. I called her today to confirm details about my dad making my costume. “So did he follow a pattern?” I asked, because I remember it having bell-shaped sleeves, something I’m not sure I could do well. “No,” she said, “he just made it up as he went.” I love that.
So, I had “mustard cardigan” on my wish list after seeing an inspiration outfit on Pinterest. When I found this one, I was thrilled. The knitting is beautiful, and the shade of yellow is lovely. But, angel sleeves – not really my style.
So today’s project is a quick one – turning an “angel sleeved” sweater into one I will actually wear.
First I tried on the sweater and pinned the sleeves how I wanted them with safety pins. (This is a bulky, loose knit sweater, and straight pins would have gotten lost.)
Next I turned it inside out and marked where I would sew the sleeve. I did the same for the other side. Then I used my sewing machine to sew the sleeves. After that, I cut away the extra knitting and did zigzag stitching over the seam allowances to prevent them from fraying.
That’s it. Quick and easy project that takes an almost “just right” cardigan to a perfect fit.
Note: My camera is doing some weird things with lighting. I’m trying to figure out how to fix this, but it IS really mustard yellow, although it looks a lot lighter in the photos.
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This post is part of a 31 Day series. Find all the posts in this series here.
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beautiful objects 
I did try to make a pair of knit slacks years before you were born. I worked and worked and when I was finished, the slacks would have fit Jackie Gleason. And that was the end of my sewing machine experience. Oh, I just remembered! Your dad couldn’t thread the machine so I had to do that whenever he sewed. (or more likely, he just didn’t want to do that part and just said he couldn’t). You had to love a guy that would do his own sewing.
That Singer of yours WAS hard to thread. I remember taking it with me to college and not being able to thread it. I called you and Aunt Teresa for help. I’m not sure I ever did it properly.
Discovered I couldn’t “like” this w/o signing in which leads to my blog. Double yikes! Comments are better.
You have put a whole new spin on recycling.
You have a blog? “What what what?” as Big Boy would say. :)
good to know. i recently bought two sweater that i want to use to cover some pillows. i have been a bit concerned about cutting them and having them fall apart but, of course, i will sew before i cut….then sew again… so obvious yet elusive for me. :)